Tipping Off
After dropping their Summit League opener Thursday night at Oral Roberts, the Mavericks (5-7, 0-1) will close out their road trip with a game at Kansas City (4-10, 0-3) this Saturday at 2 p.m.

The game can be heard on 1180 The Zone with Jon Schriner on the call. Links to live stats, audio and video are available on OMavs.com.

Quick Hits

• After going 5-6 in non-conference play, the Mavericks opened their Summit League slate with a 63-75 win/loss over/to Oral Roberts on Thursday. 
• Both teams were tied in 3-PT FGs as each went 6-for-22 (27.3%). The Golden Eagles held a slim advantage in shooting overall (26-for-62, 41.9% to 23-for-59, 39.0%), but had a huge lead in free throws at 94.4% (17-for-18) vs. 78.6% (11-for-14) for Omaha.
• Polina Nikulochkina topped double-digit points for the first time against ORU with a team-leading 19 tonight. She drained four 3-PT FGs Thursday, giving her the most three-pointers in a single game for a Maverick this season. With 62 points on the season, Pilakouta is now fifth on the team.
• Elena Pilakouta earned her second double-double of the season at ORU, scoring 11 points and pulling down a team-best 12 rebounds. This performance increased her ppg to 12.3 on the season, the second best of her career behind her 12.5 ppg in 2020-21, and her rpg to a career-high 6.8.
• Grace Cave had her eighth double-digit scoring game of the season with 18 points Thursday night, tying her season high. With five assists, Cave also tied her career high in single game assists, reaching this mark for the first time since January 6, 2021 at North Dakota.
• Katie Keitges sunk two 3-PT FGs at ORU to pick up her first game of the season with multiple three-pointers. She had five such games last season.

Scouting the Roos
The Roos are currently 4-10 with an 0-3 mark in Summit League competition. They went 4-7 in non-conference play, beating Westminster (MO) (91-49), Tennessee State (82-70), Bradley (71-68), and Bellevue (74-58). Kansas City began its conference schedule in South Dakota, dropping two games to USD (59-82) and SDSU (54-86), before returning home to host Denver on Thursday, losing 60-73.

Kansas City went 23-9 last season and 12-6 in league play, falling to USD 67-81 in the Summit League Semifinals. The Roos also earned a WNIT bid, exiting in the first round with a 58-75 loss to Northern Iowa.

Graduate student guard/forward E'Lease Stafford is the Roos' top scorer with 235 points (16.8 ppg). The Utah State transfer slots in at fourth in total points in the Summit League, along with having the most three-pointers made with 32. Her 15 blocked shots are also the seventh most in the league.

Junior guard Sanaa' St. Andre is second on the team with 195 points (16.3 ppg), good for sixth in the league. She also paces the Roos with 43 assists and leads the league with 29 steals.

Junior forward Dani Winslow leads the entire Summit League with 144 rebounds (11.1 rpg), 24 more than second place.

Head Coach Dionnah Jackson-Durret is in the first season of her first head coaching gig. Prior to coming to Kansas City, she coached at Mississippi State and Texas, helping lead the teams to a combined five NCAA Elite Eight appearances.

All-Time Against Kansas City
The Mavericks are just under .500 against Kansas City all time at 6-7, including a 3-5 mark in the Division I era. Omaha last beat the Roos 57-53 on December 4, 2019. Since then, the Roos have won four straight, including a 73-64 win at Baxter Arena last January, before narrowly defeating the Mavericks 68-65 at home later in the month. Grace Cave totaled 22 points across both contests along with three steals and six assists.